Digital mammography in direct magnification technique using a large-area amorphous silicon X-ray detector

Purpose: To investigate the image quality of a new direct digital mammography system using a large-area amorphous silicon X-ray detector in a phantom study. Materials and Methods: The contrast-detail resolution as a function of the tube voltages, the magnification factors and the mean glandular doses were investigated using dedicated test objects. Results: The contrast-detail resolution was significantly improved in comparison with conventional screen-film mammography. Usually, the doses necessary to obtain these high-quality survey mammograms were smaller. Conclusions: By combining the direct magnification technique and a digital flat panel detector the limited spatial resolution of such image receptors can be overcome. With this direct digital mammography technique, a digital image was directly captured without an intermediate step of optical or mechanical scan. (orig.)